Boom or bust, Crunchies go on

An awards show celebrating the best of the Web tonight ended up being more like a therapy session as the hosts and winners evoked the economic downturn and its devastating effects on the Internet industry.

The second annual Crunchies, an event that is part Oscars, part high school talent contest, squarely reflected the times.

Erick Schonfeld, an editor for TechCrunch, one of the four Web sites hosting the show in San Francisco’s Herbst Theater, commented at the outset that he was happy there was enough people to fill the hall, given the rash of layoffs (actually, there were some empty seats, although the organizers said they had sold all 900 tickets).

The references to the turmoil kept coming between winners accepting their trophies, irreverently and inexplicably styled as helmet-wearing gorillas holding a bone in one hand.

Paul Graham, a partner with YCombinator, a start-up incubator, advised executives to operate their companies like cock roaches, living off of nothing, as he put it.

Jason Calacanis, a serial entrepreneur who is chief executive of search engine Mahalo, tried to buck everyone up, saying on stage “We’re all here, we’ll all get through this.”

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook, shared his optimism. But given his position at the top of the Internet food chain, it’s easy to understand why. There’s no cock roach mantra at his company, which is flush with cash and offers free meals to its ever-growing work force.